The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
South Carolina
Baseball Hosts South Carolina for SEC Series
4/29/2021 | Baseball
Rebels Continue League Play with Top-10 Matchup
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#12 OLE MISS (28-12, 10-8 SEC) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA (26-12, 11-7 SEC) Apr. 30-May 2 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes • South Carolina Notes | ||||||||
| Friday, Apr. 30 6:30 p.m. CT  |
Saturday, May 1 6 p.m. CT  |
Sunday, May 2 11:30 a.m. CT |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Gunnar Hoglund 3-2, 2.73 ERA, 87 K, 16 BB South Carolina: RHP Thomas Farr 2-4, 3.36 ERA, 69 K, 26 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Doug Nikhazy 4-2, 1.81 ERA, 70 K, 19 BB South Carolina: RHP Brannon Jordan 4-2, 3.04 ERA, 76 K, 33 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Drew McDaniel 4-0, 4.15 ERA, 45 K, 12 BB South Carolina: RHP Will Sanders 6-2, 2.70 ERA, 43 K, 7 BB |
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SERIES INFO
Dates: Apr. 30-May 2
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. CT | 6 p.m. CT | 11 a.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
Dimensions: LF-330, CF-390, RF-330 (11,477)
TV/Live Stream: SEC Network (Sat.) | SEC Network+ (Fri./Sun.)
Play by Play: Roy Philpott (Sat.)
Analyst: David Dellucci (Sat.)
Play by Play: Richard Cross (Fri./Sun.)
Analyst: Billy Kirkpatrick (Fri./Sun.)
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network/TuneIn App
Play by Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Brad Henderson
Series History: South Carolina leads 36-24
Last Meeting: May 4-6, 2019 (in Columbia)
Results: L, 5-13 | L, 6-11 | W, 6-5
Last in Oxford: Mar. 24-26, 2016
Results: L, 1-5 | L, 5-9 | L, 0-4
• Ole Miss enters the weekend at 28-12 after a weekend series defeat at the hands of LSU. In Game 3 of the series, the Rebels erased a 9-1 deficit with an eight-run eighth inning and avoided the sweep with a 10-9 comeback victory thanks to a walk-off home run from freshman Kemp Alderman.
• Ole Miss slipped to a high ranking of No. 12 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings.
• At the halfway point of the SEC season, the Rebels are in third place in the West at 10-8 in league play.
• Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally with 410 hits on the season, including 10-plus hits in all three games over the weekend vs. LSU. The Rebels have tallied nine or more hits in 13 of their last 15 games.
• The Rebel offense is second in the SEC and fifth nationally in runs scored with 306.
• Ole Miss leads the SEC and is 18th nationally with a .301 batting average, including a .306 mark in SEC play.
• The Rebel pitching staff is third nationally and third in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9. Ole Miss is also second in the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio and seventh nationally at 3.41
• Gunnar Hoglund is No. 5 in the nation and third in the SEC with 87 strikeouts on the season.
• Taylor Broadway leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally with eight saves.
• Ole Miss leads the nation in attendance and holds 14 out of college baseball's top 18 most-attended on-campus games this season, including six games with 10,000-plus fans.
• Ole Miss and South Carolina have met 60 times with the Gamecocks holding a 36-24 advantage in the all-time series. USC has won the last three series and seven out of the last nine games.
REBS VS. GAMECOCKS
Ole Miss and South Carolina have met 60 times between 1994 and 2018 with the Gamecocks holding a 36-24 advantage in the all-time series. USC has won the last three series and seven out of the last nine games. The Rebels won the first two series in 1994 and 1995, taking two of three games in Oxford the Columbia. USC last came to Oxford in 2016 and won the series in a sweep. South Carolina won two of three in the last meeting in the series in Columbia.
SATURDAY SHUTOUT IN STARKVILLE
Doug Nikhazy threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout against No. 3 Mississippi State on Saturday in front of a raucous crowd of 13,338 at Dudy Noble Field. The Rebel left-hander tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts and walked just two. He didn't allow a Bulldog to advance past first base, while the Rebel racked up 17 hits in a 9-0 victory. While the offense clicked on Saturday, Ole Miss couldn't get the key hits needed to take the SEC road series. In front of the second-largest weekend crowd in MSU history, the Bulldogs scored three runs in the final four innings of a 5-2 Friday night win and used a five-run sixth inning to close the weekend with a 7-5 victory.
WILD SERIES VS. HOGS
Ole Miss racked up 30 runs over three games against No. 1 Arkansas, but as potent as the Rebels were, the Razorbacks were a razor's edge better as they took the series win with Friday and Sunday victories at Swayze behind 31 runs scored of their own. Ole Miss outhit Arkansas in all three games for a grand total of 46-33 over the weekend.
ONE-RUN MAGIC
Ole Miss is 8-3 on the season in one-run games. Ole Miss has won nine straight 1-0 games. The last time Mike Bianco's squad lost a 1-0 contest was Feb. 24, 2007, against Wright State, a game that was shortened to five innings due to weather. Ole Miss also has 10 come-from-behind wins.
REBEL RECOGNITION
Ole Miss has had eight players earn in-season honors, including two National Players of the Week, a National Hitter of the Month and four SEC weekly awards. Most recently, Doug Nikhazy was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, as well as the SEC Pitcher of the Week by the league office. Tim Elko earned four honors before suffering an ACL injury, including NCBWA National Hitter of the Month for March. TJ McCants is the first Rebel freshman to win SEC Freshman of the Week, while Peyton Chatagnier was the first to win SEC Player of the Week after opening weekend.
FIRST NO. 1 RANKING
Baseball America, D1Baseball, Perfect Game and NCBWA made Ole Miss the consensus No. 1 team in the nation after Week 1, the first No. 1 ranking in program history. The Rebels hold a high ranking of No. 12 this week.
HISTORIC SEC START
Ole Miss started SEC play at 6-0 for the first time since the 1964 team started 11-0 in league play en route to a College World Series appearance. It's also the first time Ole Miss swept consecutive SEC series since going 6-0 against Alabama and Tennessee in 2013. This was Ole Miss' first SEC road sweep since taking three from No. 17 Kentucky in 2014.
RECORD-SETTING STREAK
Ole Miss opened the 2020 season with a defeat at home to No. 1 Louisville, led by eventual first round MLB Draft pick Reid Detmers. Starting the next day, Ole Miss went on the greatest tear in program history, reeling off 20 straight victories before finally snapping the spell on Feb. 26, 2021, with a 3-2 loss to UCF. The streak spanned 378 days. The Rebels finished tied for the fifth-most consecutive wins in SEC history (Record: 24 - Texas A&M, 2015) and the longest win streak in the conference since Mizzou won 20 straight in 2017.
DOUG'S DAY
On Saturday in front of 13,338 at Dudy Noble Field on Super Bulldog Weekend, Doug Nikhazy stole the show. The left-hander out of Windermere Florida, threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out 12 and walking two, allowing just three total baserunners—none of which advanced past first base. Nikhazy is the first Rebel to throw a one-hitter since Adam Yates one-hit Southeastern Louisiana in a seven-inning game on Feb. 14, 2001. It was the first complete game of Nikhazy's career, and he became the first Rebel to throw a nine-inning complete game since Christian Trent against Auburn on April 5, 2014. Trent also threw an eight-inning complete game in a loss at Missouri on May 1, 2015. Nikhazy tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts and set a new personal best in SEC play. Nikhazy turned around and struck out 11 last week against LSU.
COME BACK STRONGER
Ole Miss is 4-1 when Doug Nikhazy starts since the junior left-hander returned after missing two weeks with a strained pectoral muscle. In his five starts back on the hill, Nikhazy has allowed just three earned runs on 18 hits and 12 walks with 48 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. The junior left-hander has walked three or fewer batters and struck out seven or more batters in all five games since his return.
WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW
Gunnar Hoglund missed a start for the first time in his career last week due to arm soreness. Despite the missed start, the junior out of Hudson, Florida, is third in the SEC and fifth nationally with 87. His 14 strikeouts against ULM were two shy of the program record and the most by a Rebel since Drew Pomeranz struck out 15 in 2010. Hoglund has struck out seven or more in eight of his nine starts this season.
STRIKES AT SWAYZE
Ole Miss is third in the SEC and No. 3 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 11.9 Ks per game. The Rebels have struck out at least 10 batters in 28 of 40 games this season. Ole Miss also ranks No. 7 nationally and second in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.41. Ole Miss' 18 strikeouts against Arkansas State were its most since Game 2 against Xavier last season. The Rebels matched that season-best mark in an April 3 win at No. 15 Florida.
BROADWAY IS CLOSED
Taylor Broadway has been a dominant force at the back end of the Rebel bullpen in 2021, leading the SEC and sitting four off of the national lead with eight saves on the season. Ole Miss is 12-4 this season when Broadway pitches, including 11 scoreless outings.
REBS ARE RUNNIN'
Ole Miss ranks fifth nationally and second in the SEC in runs scored. The Rebels also rank in the top five in the SEC in hits, batting average, walks, runs per game, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and doubles. Ole Miss has scored eight runs or more 20 times this season, including 13 games in double figures.
ONLY PLAYING THE HITS
Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in hits. Ole Miss also leads the SEC and ranks 18th nationally in batting average at .301 on the year, including a .306 mark in SEC play. Eight different Rebels currently have a batting average of .300 or highest. As a team, Ole Miss has 23 multi-hit games this season, including three last weekend vs. LSU.
ELKO OUT
The same week he was named the NCBWA Hitter of the Month for March, Rebel slugger Tim Elko suffered a torn ACL while avoiding a diving North Alabama first baseman. Ole Miss will continue to monitor its senior captain in the coming weeks. The Preseason All-American and All-SEC third baseman hit .354 with four doubles and three home runs in 2020. The Rebel captain exploded in Week 3 for five home runs, earning SEC and National Player of the Week honors. Without Elko, the Rebel offense has stepped up collectively. In 12 games since his injury, the Rebels have averaged 7.3 runs and 12.1 hits per game.
KEMP WALKS IT OFF
Kemp Alderman had his redshirt pulled last week and wasted little time making an impact. The freshman out of Decatur, Mississippi, hit his first career home run, a walk-off to beat LSU on Saturday.
CATCHER U
After a sensational freshman season, catcher Hayden Dunhurst has shown early in 2021 that he's ready to further etch his name among the long line of phenomenal catchers in Oxford. The Preseason All-SEC catcher is second the team with a .341 batting average and is second with a .482 on-base percentage. Dunhurst leads the SEC with four pickoffs and is second in the conference with 10 runners caught stealing.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
True freshmen Jacob Gonzalez and TJ McCants, filling the starting shortstop and center field spots for Ole Miss, have hit their stride as the Rebels have waded deeper into SEC play. Over his last 18 games, McCants is hitting .394 with 22 runs scored, 11 RBI, three doubles, two triples and three home runs, including a game-tying grand slam in Saturday's win vs. LSU. McCants' resume includes an SEC Freshman of the Week nod. In his last 15 games, Gonzalez is hitting .381 with 17 runs scored, 16 RBI, five doubles and two home runs.
